lingeringlegacy | 07 ☆ Returning Returner

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07 ☆ Returning Returner

The Tree has seen fit to greet my return from the elevator with a flashy getup I cannot change out of and alterations to my personal effects. I suppose it confirms that one thing has not changed since I last wrote.

Youth, 00, Smoke, Mindelan, Gene, Huo & Hawk - My gratitude for your concerns. I am safe and sound. It was difficult to tell apart day and night back there, but from the cycle of eating and getting hungry, I estimate 1-2 days have passed. Yet, the number of journal pages filled suggests a longer period. How long have I been away? I ~~mis~~ would enjoy meeting you over a cup of tea or coffee. Or pie or pasta. Or anything, really. Foodless is fine too.

Dr Valeth and [Housekeeping NPC supervisor] - My apologies for the absence. I shall report for duty on Monday if it is acceptable to you. By acceptable I also refer to the long fringe trims on my jacket. They look awfully easy to get caught in things.

How did post-hurricane cleanup go for everyone? My house got through just fine, but the humidity seemed quite severe, judging from the state of my components rack. (Unlikely but) does anyone have a proper chamber oven for baking PCBAs? Otherwise I'll have to use a toaster oven but... not sure if the heat distribution's even enough.

-Stellaris

[ooc: Mun feels like going local. For the Rockstar event, Stellaris is dressed as Anggun from her 90s 'lady rocker' days [1][2], meaning: red beret & garish fringe jacket, with black top, denim shorts and suede boots. Accessories include xbox hueg digital watch, at least 3 necklaces and enough bangles to compete with an Indian bride.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[True to his word, on Monday Genius stood fidgeting at the edge of his lab, peeking out into the rest of the clinic like a timid turtle inching from his shell. He was not a very social man at work. He generally preferred to eat in his lab rather than with his coworkers, although he sometimes made the effort to eat with Composer or Simon when the two happened to have the same shift. He'd never had lunch with Stellaris before, even though the two of them seemed to have similar interests and friends (Well. Friend. But Gene was very important to Genius so he counted for two!).

But lately he'd found himself meeting more and more people, expanding his social circle--heck he was even having friendly banter with the Captain of the Guard and his former enemy's close friend! He wasn't sure why it was happening and he was a little too scared to think about it too deeply. It was good to have friends. It was good (and normal) to meet new people.

These thoughts were all well and good but they did nothing to remove the look of shy nervousness from his face as he took a deep breath and placed a foot outside the lab.]

Hey Stellaris?

[During the last few minutes before lunch break, the lavender-haired rookie intern was filling up paperwork on an empty desk, her bangles jingling from under her labcoat. Thankfully, she was able to put on a labcoat to prevent the excessive fringes and accessories from hindering her work too much, though once she stepped out of the clinic any sort of outerwear would magically slip off. Hearing her name called, she turned facing the caller's direction. It was Genius, who she had seen a couple of times in passing (he did fit Gene's description of him, though she had not seen the so-called flailing).]

Hey! You're ready to go? I'm just finishing up here.

[Genius was also wearing a lab coat, but even the coat couldn't cover up the hilarious outfit he was wearing. He wore a blue suit jacket (http://www.goldminemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/buddy-holly-finger-snaps.jpg), matching dress slacks, a red tie and white shirt. The entire outfit was covered with red Name Tags (http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3134929/2/istockphoto_3134929-hello-my-name-is.jpg). The tags each had the same name "Pointdexter" written in a neat typewriter script. To complete the look he had black plastic glasses.]

Ready and waiting. Ah..just ...ignore the outfit. At least yours is nice. Less insulting too.

[Yeah that's what he got for pissing the sphere off]

So. The S-yard. Giant pile of junk and broken treasures from our pasts. A real destination spot. Can't think of a better lunch spot really.

[Yes someone was thrilled]

--

Edited 2010-11-09 04:26 (UTC)

[She did not get what was insulting about his outfit. It was just a suit and glasses. The name on the tag was not his, but not like the bad names tattooed on people before the hurricane.]

I think yours is alright. Have you seen Gene's?

[Though she did get free fruits out of that. She chuckled at Genius' deadpan description.]

It's not so bad there. Some spots are rather comfortable.

[Lucky for him she didn't seem to notice or understand the joke behind the Pointdexter name.]

I haven't. I heard it was vaguely terrifying. How bad was it? Do you have dets?!

[He perked right up on the topic of his name twin like an eager kid]

I've only been a few times but if you say so. Let's book it.

[With that he heads towards the front of the clinic with a bit of swing to his step]

[Indeed. Pop-culture, what is that?]

Well, I saw him on Saturday. His outfit was made of spandex and leather and filled with metal studs, with scaly boots. His face was painted black and white. Someone in the market mistook him for a musician he is fond of, and I got free grocery because of that.

[She finished the paperwork and placed it on an existing pile. Then she opened her labcoat, folded it neatly before packing it inside her backpack. She would be leaving for Housekeeping after lunch.]

I brought baked pasta.

[ANCIENT pop culture at that]

Spandex and leather? For realises?! Gene? HA! [Even as he laughed, a part of Genius noted that Stellaris' straightforward way of speaking carried over even in person. That was interesting. She wasn't at all like Gene.]

Er--I have a peanut butter and M&M sandwich, a banana and a juice box?

[Oh. Was he supposed to bring a lunch to share? DAMN SOCIAL CUES.]

We could go halfies?

[She observed that most men didn't bring their own lunch, and that homemade cooking was a good icebreaker. Like she did when coming to Smoke's first sparring session, she had made extra specifically to share with Genius today.]

Certainly. Although.. what is em-an-em?

[She gestured at him to start walking towards the exist, to the bridge.]

[Well Genius didn't make his own lunch. His brother did. Theirs was a complicated relationship.]

Although mine is in the break room...we could grab it on the way out? Wait. You don't know what an M&M is?!

[He gives her a look usually reserved towards those who are said to be clinically ill. Then he reaches towards her sleeve as though to tug her into the break room]

Hold it! We need M&Ms STAT.

[luckily it was on their way out anyways]

Well—I... no?

[Caught unprepared by such an abrupt reaction, she was tugged along, wide-eyed and losing her controlled little smile.]

[Genius didn't notice the smile disappearing, he was too busy making a beeline for the fridge]

I only get these when we have certain wildernesses and luckily the Convention Center wilderness has vending machines. I got all kinds of junk food sources.

[He did. In fact that was wear most of his paycheck went. He dragged poor Stellaris into the break room where he let go and pulled his lunch out of the fridge. It was in a green lunch box with a faded rocket ship on the front. ]

Here try some. [He pulled out a bag and held it out expectantly] It's chocolate with a candy coated shell over it. They're a bit cold but they're good--and I have peanut butter too!

[Stellaris took the little plastic packaging into her hands and examined the prints. Now clear on what object he referred to, she calmly responded.]

Ooh. So it's a brand of candy-coated chocolate. You could have just told me, you know. Though I don't think I have eaten it here.

[Or perhaps ever. She had a mindset that freshly cooked food was something rare and valuable, so with the ease of obtaining them in Edensphere, why should one resort to preserved food, outside emergencies?]

[He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her close examination]

Less talk Gene-friend, more eats! Come on, we have a date with the S-yard and only an hour's break. Pop one and lets get going.

I don't just let anyone have my M&Ms you know.

[She shrugged then nodded, replying over a light chuckle.]

Alright then, let's go. And I suppose I feel honoured for such privilege.

[A couple of months ago, the word 'date' would have made her assert that their outing was friendly in nature, but interacting with many people, especially Smoke and Gene, had taught her to let slide a lot of words used non-literally.

They crossed the bridge to Access Point without incident, then into the elevator heading down to 5th floor.]

You should! M&Ms are a rare and beautiful thing here! Expensive too. You should try them with peanut butter, it's like the food of the gods.

[He followed after her, continuing to ramble as they made their way towards the elevator. Genius talked with his hands as much as with his mouth--this would explain the flailing that Gene mentioned.]

So ah...I've been wondering, how do you know Gene exactly? I'm not versed in the social circles honestly. Doesn't really interest me--although Youth and Derrick? Know all the gossip so I just get it from them. Especially Youth, he's Mister popular. It's a bit disconcerting.

I mean I don't know much about you. Er...no offense. Just saying.

[She did not know how to respond to his hyperboles on chocolate, so she just hmm-ed on that, lightly chuckling when seeing his exuberant limb-waving. The next question was easier to answer.]

I ran into him when the Wilderness was Tokyo, then we learned we came from the same place.

[There was no reason to hide that part, since there had been so many from her world here.]

And no offense taken! How did you know Gene, Genius?

[Well that was a quick and straight forward answer]

Yeah? How'd you two figure that out? Cause I haven't had as much luck so far. I thought this girl, Fracta, was from my world because she looked so familiar. But as I got to know her, nothing clicked. So now I'm just not sure. She's gone at any rate.

[He looked glum for a moment but the look turned into a puzzled frown as he considered the question]

Huh. How did I meet Name Twin? Hmm, I think we just talked a lot on the journals--we only met for the first time in Disneyworld. He's Bell's twin brother and he's close friends with Fred. Proximity was a factor.

[The elevator dinged, announcing their arrival at the S-yard]

[Seeing his glum face, she offered sympathy, a rather somber expression and a brief pat on the back.]

I'm sorry to hear that she's gone. Well... a part of it is recognition. There are some concepts that our world's people are drawn too, and the rest... is the sort of vague familiar feeling at the back of your brain. Since you've been here longer, you might know what feeling I meant?

[She stepped out of the elevator and looked around for any familiar faces, but the few Scavengers around weren't anyone she recognised. They barely spared a notice to the arrivals, perhaps because that day every other people looked as if they just stepped out of Woodstock.]

Oh... yes, he or Bell mentioned they hatched together, but it was a different kind of brother than with Aim. And I think I've spoken once to Fred before, if you mean the lady scavenger. We know a lot of the same people, after all! But since Edensphere is not very large, I suppose it's not difficult.

So, do you have any suggestion where we can eat?

[The pat on the back made him startle a bit, but he smiled at her and nodded.]

She may come back...sometimes they just do. I know exactly what you mean, although I've noticed there's different types. Sometimes its just a vague feeling of remembrance and sometimes its intense, almost painful.

[He'd had that painful feeling with Gene recently and of course being with Stellaris made the Gene associated memory come floating up again. Dollhouse. What did that word mean? He pushed aside the feeling for now.]

The lady scavenger makes her sound all fancy like Madam Steampunk or something. But yeah that's the one. It really is a small sphere after all.

Ah eating...I honestly don't come down here all that often. Youth swears its safer here and I don't entirely know why...this place is kinda spooky if you ask me.

[She held her breath when he described the feeling. Intense and painful... so it wasn't just her who had that sort of bad recognition. Chilling fear out of nowhere that she felt when she had stepped inside that pod in the Fourth-floor space station. But she was not one to discuss such matters of gravity with someone she just knew. (A little voice in her head said, but didn't you technically just know Gene when you talked about Gundam and wars?)]

Troublesome, indeed.

[She could, however, try and lift the atmosphere again. Being gloomy was not what she was here for.]

Madam Steampunk? That's a funny-sounding nickname, I don't even know what it means. And I've only been here exactly once before, but there was quite a nice place with seating.

[She began to walk a sure step in one direction, towards a path flanked by heaps of junk.]

[Troublesome. Well that was one way to put it.]

Steampunk. It's a genre of ...well its a genre. It's a mixture of technologies from different eras, typically the era where steam originated with a more modern era. But I guess that doesn't make much sense here where lots of times are mixed. Point is, Fred's a good friend of mine.

[He followed her, one step behind]

So ah...what was it we wanted to discuss here?

Hmm. Like how we need to travel by foot and through rope bridges, but there are elevators and automated farms? So we are practically living in Steampunk Land.

[She led them towards a location she had been shown before, to the abandoned frame of a 21st century sedan. Engineless and dented in several places, but its interior was clean.]

This is the place! Well, I believe the idea was spurred when I asked you what year you were from.

Steampunk Land! I like it! Nice one!

[+1 in Genius' affection for creative nerd-ness. He also approved of the sedan seating]

Wow they have cars here?! And no one's ever tried to fix one up? Having cars would be--er--problematic. Can't get those things over the bridges. YET.

[His visions of a superhighway was derailed by her reminder about their purpose]

Right. So I can't tell you for sure, I can only give you my estimates. Der and I are sure we're from the same time period, probably the same country. I'm from Los Angeles and that doesn't ring a bell for him. From my own group I can tell you I'm probably from a later time period than Bell and Youth but Fred thinks she's from a more advanced era. In one of my memories I used computers and advanced medical technology that isn't anywhere in the Sphere or in Medical. But the technology in Disneyworld and in the Mall of America was also familiar.

So what I've deduced from that is that my brother and I are from the United States of America somewhere in the ballpark range of 2010. That was the year that was printed on stuff they were selling in Disneyworld and the Mall of America. Both of those places are in the US and it sounds right. It fits more than any other wilderness I've been in although admittedly that's not a lot.

[She opened the back door and took a seat, then began to unpack her lunch box.]

The engine was missing. Perhaps the Scavengers couldn't find suitable parts. But even if they did, couldn't fit a whole car in the elevator either, could we?

[She wasn't sure there was fuel for it either. The car had a tank-filler hole but no charging port, dating it one or two century before her time, a fossil-fuel engine. But everything in Edensphere seemed to run on electricity. Mysteriously available electricity.]

2010, hm. The Tokyo wilderness was also around that period. I've met several people from a far earlier time, and though they are perfectly nice people, there are things I would like to discuss with someone to whom I don't need to explain what a terabyte is. Do you bring something to put your share in? Otherwise I'll just use the lid.

[She pointed using plastic fork to the content of her now-opened lunchbox: baked penne with tomato, spinach and cheese.]

I will be blunt here, Genius. I heard you're working on a communication system.

I guess not. I mean you could bring it up a piece at a time but there's no room for them. Maybe someone could build something smaller? Some of the islands are so big, like the Farm, that it would be cool to have some form of transportation.

[He sat down next to her and pulled out his peanut butter sandwich, dividing it carefully into two halves.]

I know exactly what you mean! You do not want to know how great it is to talk to you and Gene without having to backtrack and explain what a computer is first. Hm. I have my bag? Lid works too. [He offered her half of the sandwich and some more M&Ms]

[Oh.Well that was straight to the point]

You have? I mean I have. I am. You know in between disasters and trips to medical for head injuries. The hurricane kinda threw everything up in the air. I'm trying to make a simple two way radio--walkie talkies. I've been using the shells of cellphones found..here actually. They're crude though, nothing that would work long distances...why?

07 ☆ Returning Returner

Monday, 11/8 Quicklog Startup!

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I forgot about the event and his punishment doh

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/facepalm

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i dont think they've talked about Gene before but if I'm wrong let me know

I think they haven't, but I kinda regret not telling Genius about the merchant touching Gene's axe

hawt

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he has the tastebuds of a 5 year old ~ also edited for random tense fail sorry

mommy says he needs more spinach

i think if it wasnt for derrick he would never eat anything remotely green

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